We now live in the age of Facebook, where a different set of consumer behaviors is the rule. Business owners need to embrace these behaviors and not long for the days of pre-social media.

Before social media, business owners had the choice to respond graciously and respectfully to customer complaints. Whether a customer complains in person or on Facebook, it’s ultimately up to the business owner — who has the most at stake — to use the complaint as an opportunity to demonstrate how much they value their customers.

As the author of “Facebook Marketing for Dummies,” I often hear concerns that businesses have “lost control” of their brand in the face of public complaints like the rant on Pigalle’s Facebook page. But unhappy customers have always had ways to publicly vent their complaints. And business owners have always had control over how they respond.